To reach Jinghong we had two flights that were pretty memorable due to the landing style of the pilot (ie forced to the ground, a swerve and heavy braking to stop - would definitely have failed the Krypton Factor flight simulation test) and also, that we disembarked halfway to then re-board the same plane and the same seats!

We finally arrived at Jinghong, our last destination in China. It would be a time out place to stop, rest and catch up on the necessities such as sleep and Internet (in that order). The map of the place was literally a long stretch of road with two roundabouts (1 round, 1 triangle). Our hotel we discovered also housed the local public baths. The pool looked very inviting and was about the size of Ponds Forge's olympic pool and cost about £1 to use including towels. We were going to take the plunge but the more we thought about it the less convinced we were: the stories of the Chinese kiddies commonly relieving themselves in pools and the general spitting habits changed our minds. We reconsidered opting instead for just some downtime. Brett, our guide, confirmed our fears and reaffirmed our decision - apparently Chinese pools are very chlorinated for the above reasons.

We even adopted an approach for ordering food so we both could eat at the same time as meals often come out as they're prepared so you can have finished before someone else's food has even arrived. Buffet finger foods that we could share would be the answer! Pizza and spring rolls were pretty good after a lazy day. We did pretty much nothing but mentally relax and prepare for the road trip ahead to Laos.

We rode to the border of China like the back end of the minibus was on fire: overtaking on blind bends and even under tunnels (and China is the land of tunnelling pretty much every mountain you go through, not around or over). At the border we stamped out of the country and crossed a stretch of no-mans land before continuing to the border of Laos where visas were obtained at different prices depending on nationalities. Once on the other side we met our new minibus and guide and driver (called Mr Luck) and set off to our first stop.

This was an overnight stop at Luang Namtha. Here we went for a walk around a local food market that could have turned the most committed meat-eater vegetarian due to the number of flies, heat and smell of the place. That aside we stopped at a bar and had a drink whilst a storm came and passed. Torrential rain came down for 30mins and brought respite from the immense heat and humidity, then it was time for tea at a local restaurant.

The next day we headed out early on to hit the road once more this time a 9 hour journey to Luang Prabang. The mountain roads went up and down and around hillsides with some pretty rugged scenery, little villages and rustic buildings mostly constructed of bamboo precariously teetering at the roadside over some treacherous cliffsides. The main difference was no tunnels. Now we were climbing and descending and twisting over road/dirt tracks at a nauseating pace. For such a small country that many haven't heard off, it has some serious distances between towns. We arrived fairly late on - all of us green round the gills and tired.
Mike and Kelly